


teacher's evaluation

by mosaicos



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-04 05:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1767679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosaicos/pseuds/mosaicos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If throughout his classes Matsuoka Gou and her terrible behaviour dominated the thoughts in his head, Makoto is exactly a hundred percent surprised when by the end of his shift it's her brother, Matsuoka Rin, who floats by in his mind and settles in his thoughts like he was always meant to be there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"It's not uncommon, though. Is it?"

Makoto sighs impatiently at the question. It was not like him to be _out of_ patience, but the four periods before nap time had made him really tense. Particularly on the muscles on the back of his neck. His shoulders felt heavy and his neck tight whenever he moved; he was going to down pills by the end of his shift to make this forthcoming headache subside.

It was his first week on the job and he was still trying to get over the freshly-out-of-university nerves. He felt unqualified for the job as opposed to his coworkers--all teachers with years of experience, breezing through the bureaucratic processes of planners, daily agendas, report filling, data numeration based on observatory evaluation... It was a list of endless items which Makoto kept having a hard time getting the hang of. It made him panic how some of the older teachers were already set with planners for _two months_ ahead of time while he stuck to planning things on a weekly basis. His hand shook lightly whenever he had to fill out an evaluation to be read by his coordinator and meeting parents was so dreadful he always went around to ask if any of the senior teachers would be available for about twenty minutes to sit in those meetings. 

"Makoto. Quit slumping."

His eyes fixate themselves on his friend, sitting across from him. There was paint on the side of his palm and he was scrubbing at it with his other hand, trying to rub it off. 

Too bad he couldn't rub Makoto's nervous thrill off as easily as that.

"I'm --" he heaves and sits up straighter, hands on his knees for support. "I don't know how you manage, Haru. You get to deal with rowdier kids and everything, and yet..."

Haruka, Makoto's childhood friend and neighbour, had found a job as a substitute art teacher in a school in Iwatobi. It was _mostly_ through him that Makoto managed to land his own job as a kindergarten teacher. He would have preferred dealing with older kids, if he had to be honest, but at this point he's not sure it would have made a difference.

Blue eyes glance at him furtively before commenting, "I thought you got along well with young children."

He should, really, get along just fine with them. His siblings are eight years younger than him and he's had more than plenty experience to know about children and dealing with them. Haruka is a passive witness to it.

"There's a difference between looking after them and trying to teach them, though..."

Haruka, ever observant to the misfortunes of others, can't help but blink slowly at the other. It's passive aggressive, how he tries to convey that it makes _no sense_ to him why Makoto--sweet, caring Makoto who is adored by everyone--is allowing himself to be defeated by a small girl who barely reaches his waist.

Yes. The problem is a spitfire of a little girl that arrived two days into the school year to Makoto's class, causing disruption and anchoring shaky nerves deep into the brunet's heart. 

It was quite unbelievable. Really.

Blue eyes glance impassively from the nervous-smiling Makoto past the small wooden, paint-dirty easels, and to the door. Why was his friend hiding out in the art classroom with him during his break? He was personable, the other members of staff liked him a lot, his coordinator sang nothing but praises of his hard, meticuluous (albeit slow) work. Parents were immensely pleased, from the flood of them that came in at the end of the day to pick their son or daughter. Was this _one_ girl really so terrible it made Makoto ignore all these things and doubt himself and his ability?

He knows Makoto expects him to say something. It comes a little difficult, still (this is why he gets more criticism than praises, in contrast to Makoto), but he manages in one breath to say "what did she do today" rather than ask.

That seems to do the trick, as Makoto starts immediately with his story, trying to wind four hours of class into less than five minutes. 

"--she doesn't shut up! I don't know what they feed her, Haru, but it's really not nice at all--" _Of course you would say 'not nice' rather than something like 'annoying'._ "--and so she riles everyone back into talking _and_ shouting!" A sympathetic wince makes Makoto keep on. "Soon as I turn my back she even starts giggling, for no reason! Or hides in the cubbies!" 

Haruka is still in disbelief that his giant friend is being terrorised by such a small child, barely five. 

He gasps in shock anyway, although it's rather flat. It's good enough for Makoto.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to talk with her parent when they come along to pick her up today."

He waits, but the request doesn't come. He hopes Makoto doesn't go and ask some other teacher for backup. Haruka is pretty confident that his blank stare can help drive a point home.

"She's four," he reminds his friend, just as his wristwatch goes off and signals five minutes to the end of naptime. 

Makoto sighs again but nods, a more genuine smile on his lips now as he gets up and sets the stool back under the table. Haruka accompanies him to the door.

"It's a good first experience," he reminds himself, looking back at the shorter one of the two. Haruka liked when he did that. Some of the usual fire returned to Makoto's eyes whenever he reminded himself of circumstances and he became set on the idea that this wasn't permanent, in case it really didn't work out. Who cared if he didn't do things as fast as teachers who were in the system for years? All they did was copy paste their material from last year and edit it slightly anyway. They all must have gone through the pains of their first time working. Makoto wasn't the first one to suffer this. --ah, Makoto was still speaking. "Thank you for hearing me out, Haru."

_Mm._

As one heads down the hall to get his kids from naptime, the other closes the door of the art room again and goes back to his previously occupied stool. 

He can't understand how Matsuoka Gou, age four, with chubby cheeks and soft-looking red hair with cute fishy ties on her ponytails can cause Makoto, age twenty-two, the tallest of all current teachers, to break down so easily. She's not extremely talented in art, he hurries to point out, grabbing pencil and a white sheet of paper.

He's sure all which Makoto needs is one win. Just one.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten minutes until the end of the day.

Makoto yawns hard into a hand, drawing tears to the corners of his tightly shut eyes. Pressing his hand onto his jawline and putting strength into it hoping to get rid of the sleepiness dowsing his muscles. The relief is momentary before another yawn gets him, and at this point he's clearly embarrassed and slowly leaning down to press his forehead to the top of the cubbies. 

He's sure one third of his students saw him; he could hear their stifled laughs and see their grinning before he went under. 

They're exercising a new school policy which involves letting the children have the last ten minutes to relax and generally avoid any academic related work or instruction. Makoto's quite fond of his group's delight in silence and napping, but some times he gets the impression that the kids (these cunning little beasts) are instead having fun looking at him space out as he, too, waits. Rather boring waiting, to be honest.

"Teacher!"

A hand shoots up.

When Makoto looks over, he smiles and pushes away from the wall, readily available to the children. He gets on his haunches and leans in close to one of the tables occupied mostly by girls. Three of them are with their heads on their arms while the other two are sitting up, expecting him. Curious eyes glance his way as everyone wants to know what's the matter. 

"I don't know if I have to go to the bathroom..."

"Oh? Well, how about you go anyway just in case?"

"--but, but, teacher will get mad..."

"Eh? Why would teacher get mad...? Teacher just wants you to do what you need to do and not feel bad about it."

Makoto considers these conversations endearing. The kids are sweet and he's got such a talent for getting along with them, speaking softly and changing his tone on the right words to make anything he says easy, and friendly. He never touches the kids; never puts a hand over their backs nor ruffles their hair, though at times it's tempting to offer that extra weight to his words. His smiles work amazingly on them, though, and he's never had the problem of children fighting with him over small things. He has definitely got to thank his life-long practice with the twins for all his patience and knowing of what to do in different situations. Children were so unpredictable, but for once he is sure that such thing is not a problem for him. Whenever he thinks about it, like this, he can actually start to believe that he _is_ good at what he does, no matter how tired and overworked he feels.

But, sometimes, things aren't quite as simple as they appear.

The giggling that had started to build up amongst the girls should have hinted him of it, but he figures it out too late.

"Got you, tea-cher!"

There's a small hand clapping to the side of his head and Makoto's face pinches into a frown, confused and working through the momentary pain. He turns to see cherry-coloured hair swirling in place in its pigtails and the source of his children-nightmares giggling even louder and turning towards her group of friends, as if trying to seek refuge. Just in time for the bell to ring and class to be dismissed. Highstrung excitement over what just happened, the children get up quickly from their small chairs and start skipping and hurrying towards the door, holding the straps of their bags tightly and laughing as if nothing was the matter.

A few "bye teacher!"s leave Makoto not entirely disheartened, but as he stands up and tries to just shrug it off, he can't help but think he's losing control.

Then he remembers he told Haruka he would talk with the girl's parents today when they picked her up after school. He tries to make two boys who are play-fighting in the back knock it off and hurry it, lest he misses the pick-up, and tugs them both out by holding their hands. One of them has forgotten his lunchbox in the classroom though, so they have to hurry back down the hallway and into the room, and the boy doesn't quite remember where he left his lunchbox...

He's not going to make it out in time.

~

He didn't make it out in time.

By the time Makoto steps to the front of the building, boys holding his hands, the area is mostly empty. Parents and guardians come to pick up their respective children at noon, which is lunch time for most working adults, and they try to make it as quickly a task as possible. He hands one of the boys over to his great-aunt, who beams up at Makoto for being such a responsible young man. The other boy presses a fist into his glasses and pushes them up his nose.

"Ah, Satoshi... If you do that you'll just dirty up your glasses..." 

Makoto lacks a lot of confidence in his own skill, and his little victories are toppled over by even smaller losses. A small rock is capable of making his castle walls crumble down without even putting up a fight. It's the nerves, he constantly tells himself, and it's his being so good with children that makes him an asset rather than a sinking failure in his current job. As he sits down on the steps at the front of the building to wait alongside Satoshi (the boy had a tendency of running off distracted) for his mother, Makoto takes the boy's glasses and cleans them up with a kerchief he's kept in his pocket. With bright eyes and a matching smile, Satoshi accepts the glasses from his teacher, and pleasantly starts swaying on his spot, singing bits and pieces of the song they learnt in class that day.

Today is going to be another day lost regarding his issues with the young Matsuoka girl, and Makoto will go find Haruka and walk to the bus stop with him only to be called a coward despite his full intentions to speak up about the girl's behaviour.

"Hey." 

Satoshi tugs at Makoto's hand, but it's not the boy who spoke. Looking up, the sun casts shadows over the guy directing himself to Makoto, and immediately he stands up, again, ready to help. (His smile must have clued the other guy to keep talking, but Makoto gets the impression he was going to keep talking _anyway_.) "Have you seen this tiny girl with stupid pigtails, and this laugh, sort of like a monster's? It's kind of creepy. Tsk, to think the world has to put up with her when she's out of her cage." Makoto doesn't know whether to be concerned or alarmed, but the words are said so loudly and his eyes are scanning the area, it's almost like the guy is making sure they're overheard.

Sure enough, a loud "HEY!" bursts out from behind the door, and said girl with pigtails goes over to them and smashes herself onto the newcomer.

Though that's _definitely_ a hug, and a heavy hand is messing up red bangs and short pigtails--the motion Makoto has kept himself from doing onto his students.

"There you are." 

Big brother reasoning settles in, and Makoto pulls up a smile to cover up for his initial surprise. The insults weren't really insults, but a taunt to make the girl show herself and stop hiding. Makoto hasn't actually been pushed to those extremes with his own siblings, but with a sister such as Matsuoka Gou on his heels he's not sure he wouldn't have done that by this point. It's the most calm he's seen the girl all day, to be quite honest, mushing her face against the guy's side and making garbled sounds of protest at getting her hair all messed up.

Oh, speaking of--

"Would you happen to be Gou's ..." he gathers himself with a pause, surveying the scene before him. His brain finally supplies with "brother?"

"Ah, yeah." Makoto finds himself staring quickly down at the other's lips soon as sharp, red eyes zone into him, nervous for some dumb reason or another. He's not sure he was expecting _really_ sharp-looking teeth to fill his vision in return. He doesn't mean to be rude so he busies himself with reaching for Satoshi's hand, just to keep the boy from running off. "She's a handful. You're the teacher, right? Tall and smiling. She talks about you tons." 

He's pretty sure the Brother hasn't noticed anything strange.

"Good things?"

The snort is unexpected, and it does make Makoto meet the Brother's eyes. "She doesn't say _that_ much, don't flatter yourself." It would be arrogant, even a little insulting, but the tilt of his head and a playful smirk on his lips tell the brunet otherwise. It looks like he's about to say something else, but Gou starts tugging at her Brother's hand.

"Brother! Club! The club!" 

"--I'm having an adult talk, oi," but it's not a reprimand, even as he pulls his hand away. "Try and find my bike. I hid it extra carefully today."

The girl is off, to the small parking lot on the side of the building, with an excited squeal.

"If you think she's terrible at school, imagine what she's like at home where she has full reign. Not that I doubt she doesn't pretend everywhere is her own."

Makoto swears it's just the way the sun shines down at an angle on the Brother, and the way he seems to smile so easily, fondness in his voice and eyes as they follow, ever protectively, his sibling, the reason why he responds with a rather lame "well, actually..."

~

"You didn't tell him anything."

_Coward._

"Ha _ru_ , it's not like that! He looked like he needed to leave quickly anyway, and it's not something I can just bring up for five seconds and have it done with. We would have to sit and talk about it!"

Haruka claps the side of Makoto's head where Gou had targeted earlier. The implied _you're too soft_ is quite too clear in Makoto's bones. He can't help the chuckle which escapes him, feeling much lighter, his headache gone, weight off his shoulders, and his day definitely a hundred times better than when he bitched at Haruka during his break. 

"It's not that ba--"

"What's his name?"

The reality of his answer surfaces as he slowly mutters out the word.

"Ma...tsuoka..." He doesn't actually know Gou's older brother's name, other than his surname. "Well! I'm sure I can ask her!" Haruka is not impressed. "Did you know she talks a lot about me, to him? Ah... I don't think she actually hates me, that's so good to know!" It did seem like, between trying to cover up for his nervousness in front of his best friend, Makoto actually shows signs of being cheerful and enthusiastic.

A chipper smile is turned on Haruka, and the dark-haired boy looks away, focusing on the very unexciting sidewalk. "How was your day, Haru?"

"Not better than yours, it seems."

The laughter that bubbles from Makoto eases the tension that was starting to draw up between them. It was always like this; easy and companionable. Why was Makoto talking so much about this guy, though? Some stranger, relatively.

Seems like Haruka would need to be on the case.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There may be something wrong with Makoto, because he thinks that's the coolest greeting someone has ever directed at him, arm raised and fingers outstretched to simulate a static wave. The brother saunters towards them, brushing his bangs back to rearrange them, pockets his hands, and Makoto can't help notice the bright red sports bag strapped across his chest.

"I met tall and smiling today."

His phone was held between ear and shoulder; the positioning was awkward and a little uncomfortable, but he needed both hands to drain the pot of boiling water onto the sink with running water. His concentration was mostly on his conversation, though he seemed well acquainted with moving around the kitchen in such fashion.

A click of his tongue shows his slight annoyance, futilely flicking his head to get a stray bang off right in front of his eyes. 

"No, I didn't get his name. Shouldn't that be on the entrance package when you paid for her enrollment? He seems reliable, and I don't think knowing who his parents are will be of any help in figuring out what type of person he is."

Today they were going to have potatoes, some greens, and meat. Rin's own plate was going to be topped with carbs, whereas Gou's was going to be arranged in such a way that she could play with her food and fail to notice that her potato to greens ratio was the same. 

The girl walks up to her brother, holds onto his shirt, and Rin casually forks a piece of potato into her mouth (after blowing on it for a second or two); it's enough for her to let go and return to her seat by the television, munching on her treat. Rin snorts. "No way. He immediately said Gou was one of his best behaved students in class. I saw right through the lie, but I wasn't going to embarrass him right then and there-- _ma_ , come on!"

Rin Matsuoka had an apartment of his own at the tender age of nineteen. His only occupation at this time was training hard under his coach to join the Olympic swimming team for Japan and looking after his baby sister when their mother had long business trips outside of town. He was mostly solitary, enjoying the silence and minimal-energy activities after his training sessions, thriving best in that kind of environment to recharge for the next day. He had grown up with the privileges of an only child, favoured by both his parents at all times. It wasn't until recently when he had to buckle on to more serious responsibilities as an older brother in order to assist his mother and look after his little sister.

It's when he's about to cut the steak into bite-size pieces that Rin stops, knife and fork down, and holds the phone properly into his hand. He glances at the calendar on the wall, only to confirm what he already knows.

"My next tournament isn't until two months. I don't mind looking after Gou for a bit longer, I've talked with coach about it. --don't worry about it, I said. Finish your stuff before then, that's all I'm saying."

Rin hands the phone over to Gou, for her few minutes of squealing at their mother about something or another, before finishing up plating their dinner. 

It wasn't always fun, but he would be damned to not give back anything for the sacrifices his family had done for him.

~

Makoto gets no concrete answer out of Gou. He did tell Haruka that it would be simple; the girl would be asked what her brother's name was and she would proffer it. His plan happened to backfire, Gou strangely protective of her brother and instead hounding Makoto with questions about his questions.

He decided to give it a rest.

But he still makes an extra effort to walk the kids out of their class two minutes before the bell and thus make sure that he would meet the nameless Matsuoka brother and hand his sister off, with a smile and more pleasant(ly rehearsed) conversation. 

He feels lucky. The brother arrives seven minutes after the hour on his bicycle, the wind playing with his hair and clothes and making it a rather dramatically cool entrance, and the energetic girl becomes impatient; good thing Makoto is holding her hand or she would run off. 

"Yo."

There may be something wrong with Makoto, because he thinks that's the coolest greeting someone has ever directed at him, arm raised and fingers outstretched to simulate a static wave. The brother saunters towards them, brushing his bangs back to rearrange them, pockets his hands, and Makoto can't help notice the bright red sports bag strapped across his chest. 

"Ah, hello! Here's your sister."

The first part of his rehearsed conversation is going just as planned. The smile he wears even manages to obscure, for himself, how earlier the young girl had spilled paint on the table and slapped her blue paint smeared hands on him, other students, and the whiteboard. It had irritated him so, spending the kids' naptime cleaning up and grieving over his ruined shirt. Gou, for her part, had her hands cleaned and currently shows no evidence of her mischief, as she pulls away from Makoto and hangs onto her brother without hesitation. Makoto can tell the exact moment when his brain blanks out, for it is when the brother returns his smile, looking up after glancing at his sister. 

"No trouble today again?"

"None at all! She made a really interesting painting in class." _Of the class_ , he adds to himself as a reminder. "We're putting them up on the walls by the end of the week, so if you happen to have some time and want to have a look...?"

The brother, instead, snorts, and seems to be holding back a laugh; he's glancing at Makoto's shirt by the waist.

"Some other brat must have made an artwork out of you, then." 

It leaves Makoto feeling at a loss, how the answer doesn't give anything to the question that he asked, and how it teases him to the core, almost like the other guy had seen right through him. Makoto's automatic response is to smile nervously, a soft chuckle under his breath as he scratches his cheek feeling absolutely self-conscious. The brother but shrugs, and is already ushering his sister to follow him to his bicycle so that they can be on their way home. 

He's going to leave and Makoto will not have had the courage yet again to ask for his name.

But then--

"Actually."

Makoto looks back at the redhead, hiding his surprise, and notices how he's begrudgingly rubbing at the back of his neck, looking off to the side as if considering the right words to say, lips rumbling together as if he were biting the inside of his cheeks. "Actually, I was wondering," and when he finally figures out what he wants to say, red eyes snap back to Makoto's green, resolute and determined. "When can we have a meeting? My mother's out of town, but I'm in charge of Gou until she gets back. Gou had some problems in her other school and--we're concerned. We would like to know how she's handling the change."

It felt foolish how gone Makoto was in his attraction for this young man. He was fit, muscles defined, the shape of his jaw and nose sharp, hair arranged and smooth, red eyes piercing and pulling him in, wanting to know more. He was most definitely an athlete, Makoto knew as much, and the way Gou's brother carried himself was impeccable and disciplined. Of course, he had only met him twice now, for brief instances which were less than ten minutes put together. Makoto only knew the surface details--but what handsome surface details they were. He knew there was no other way around it: he had a crush. This glimpse at something other than the calm and collected exterior made him curious for more than what just the surface shows.

"A meeting? W-well, I -- suppose any time before or after school would be alright. Or during the kids' naptime at ten, that's usually my break, too." 

A thoughtful hum escapes the redhead's lips, looking down at Gou who was pulling at his arm so that they would hurry. The brother doesn't even budge though, feet firmly flat on the ground.

"Probably next week. I'll confirm with you tomorrow." 

Makoto can't help but feel the disappointment. 

"You don't have to put up with her shit just because you're the tall and smiling teacher though. Just saying."

"Makoto."

A fine red eyebrow shoots up as both of Makoto's do, surprised at himself. "--Makoto Tachibana. Uh, my name." The redhead pulls the obnoxious bang between his eyes to the side and forms a grin with his mouth, before opening it.

"Rin. See you, Tachibana."

"Bye teacher!" 

And Makoto can't find the gall to test out Rin's name in his mouth.

~

"--Makoto, what are you doing?"

"Eh?"

Makoto is stopped abruptly by Haruka, who had been listening to his friend going on about his day and _Rin_ , such a foreign name in his usual vocabulary. Haruka can't help but feel shafted because he can't put a face to the guy, and Makoto seems unable to talk about anything else that doesn't revolve around the guy.

"Last time you talked this much you had a crush on Saki."

"That was in university!"

"You were in university less than eight months ago." _You're basically still the same guy._ "She only wanted to get in your pants, anyway." Haruka huffs annoyed, voice lowered at his last statement, and looks out the bus window towards the coastline. He really was not liking this business he knew nothing about. He had only ever heard of Saki, as well, and as much as Makoto had liked the girl, it irritated him to not know something so currently important to Makoto's life. That's what their years apart studying completely different careers did to their connection; it was strange after a lifetime of just knowing everything about each other, and Haruka didn't know how to feel about it then--and now is just the same.

He feels Makoto slump on his seat, their shoulders touching, and Haruka can't read his friend's expression by staring out into the ocean. So he turns his head, his expression a scowl with a new concern in mind. "Did she?" He searches his friend's eyes.

Talk about Saki had stopped as abruptly as it had started, and now that he thinks about it, Makoto never told him exactly what happened. He was not the best conversationalist, he knows that, but he's been getting better; stepping out of his shell and putting more of an effort.

Makoto doesn't say anything, but he looks so uncomfortable in his guilt.

Haruka wishes he hadn't pried.

"You're too easy," and that definitely didn't come out right. He has no energy to correct himself, however, and just pulls his shoulder away from Makoto's, and presses his forehead against the cool glass. He thinks about all the other people who may have done this, with their greasy, sweaty foreheads, and he figures it must be pretty unhygienic. He does nothing about it, though.

But Makoto knows exactly what his friend means. "It's not like that." Makoto, who grows excited and has high expectations when he meets people he would very much love to be friends with--close friends, without any form of commitment necessary. He spreads himself too thin for those he puts his faith in. Haruka was a good friend, in that sense, because Haruka never let him do that for him, though there is no one he trusts more than him. "I think he basically asked me for an evaluation on his sister. I've never done one of those before, I don't want to do it wrong."

_Right._

"At least you got his name."

"Yeah!"

"--but don't get too comfortable just because he's close to our age. You have to be a professional, Makoto."

Sometimes the truth hurt, and the reminder of it would sting. But Makoto, who would fall so easily for anyone he happened to fancy, needed the stony reminder often, lest he let himself go with the flow and have himself hurt in the process for someone else's sake.

Silence prevails until sometime near their bus stop, and Haruka dares ask, "you still talk to Saki?"

"Not really. She ended up going out with Koji before the semester was out..." 

Makoto was kind of stupid when it came to looking after himself.

~

He didn't get to see Gou's brother, Rin, the next day, having missed him for a few minutes. The day after, however, he showed up before classes to drop his sister--by actually walking into the room. With a request.

"Don't find this cheeky or anything, but I won't be on time to pick her up today. Could you look after her for a bit after class?"

Without asking for an explanation, Makoto was more than delighted to say it wouldn't be a problem.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But though change never quite sat well with him, he was getting better at accepting it. He just had to focus on what was the same. Makoto having to stay after hours really put a disruption in his schedule, but Haruka was currently more bothered by having to sit on a yellow chair meant for five year olds. It hurt his back, but he was going to show this Gou that he was made of stronger stuff than her.

There hadn't been anything special about the job ad when Haruka found it. In fact, he hadn't even read it for himself. The advertisement stated, in simple terms and a few words that a nameless public school was looking for different teachers to teach different subjects. He had graduated on the same year as Makoto, his best friend from childhood, and they had both returned to Iwatobi on the same train, suitcases cluttering their booth, what empty space there was being filled by stories Makoto had, about how terrible it was that their graduation had been on the same day so he couldn't go see Haruka receive his diploma, and especially about the dreams that he had in terms of his future work.

When Makoto had asked him what he was going to do, now that he had graduated with a Fine Arts degree, he had simply shrugged, looking out the window to gaze at the rolling scenery.

"I got a few job offers," was the quiet response before Makoto could blow this into a bigger deal than what it was. "But, I'm taking a break, for now."

He could tell how those words brought both worry and relief to his friend's face at the same time. 

Haruka wasn't too fond of change. He had gone to university, yes, but he had always thought of going back to his home in Iwatobi and find some work there. Everything else--moving, changing every aspect about his life again--was such a drag. The apprehensiveness was tight in Makoto's voice, and it made Haruka turn his full attention on the other boy, wonder in his blue eyes.

"--it's lucky for you, Haru. You already have job offers. When did you start applying?"

His course counselor had asked them all for portfolios to start sending before the last semester started, he told Makoto. There was something strained in the look Makoto held, but he could not figure it out for the life of him.

"You shouldn't sit too long on the offers."

It was annoying how Makoto was really hard to read, at times. Especially when he diverted his eyes like that and turned the topic of their conversation into something else--like the weather or another inconsequential matter. Haruka may not have been too sure on what he wanted, but ever since that conversation on the train home he made an extra effort to look in the job advertisement section of newspapers, magazines, and bulletin boards. For himself, he had accepted a design job online; he could work on his own schedule, from home, and simply send a scan of whatever he had done; a comic, blue print, whatever it was. It was something he did on the weekend, to be fair, to keep himself fresh and unspoiled in the ever competitive arts field.

It had been Haruka who presented the aforementioned advertisement to Makoto, circled in black amidst all other boxes with words. Even then, wordlessly, Makoto had smiled and taken the newspaper with him, followed by the evasive question of whether he could look at Haruka's work so far.

Makoto had visited him again four days later, dressed proper and with a tie too tight around his collar, holding a portfolio casing under his arm.

"Haru!"

The pressure in his heart disappeared when he saw his friend's smiling, excited face.

"I got the job!" 

(He was ready to celebrate with grilled mackerel, his treat to Makoto, but Makoto's parents beat him to it and they all went out to have dinner in town. A pesky little smile was glued on Haruka's face when he thought the Tachibanas weren't paying attention to him, at Makoto's excited chatter, describing the school and his general enthusiasm at the compliments he had been given throughout the interview.)

(Being taken out like this reminded him that they--he and Makoto--were still really young. Twenty-two, Makoto having turned so recently. It was nice, though; it's almost like they were seventeen again, being taken out like this by patient parents.)

~

How Haruka had come across his job at the same school as Makoto was another story altogether.

He had walked in to pick Makoto up so that they could go to eat at a new seafood place, one week into the organisation month teachers held (he didn't understand what that was for, at all, but he supposed he wasn't a teacher in the end), and was waiting by the reception, sitting down. He must have been confused as a parent with a potential child to enrol, because all of a sudden he was part of a small group of young parents, following a guide who gave them a tour of the school and its classrooms. He was following, listlessly, catching words and phrases here and there, filtering out the questions from the parents.

"We're still looking for a substitute to the Art teacher. She's on maternity leave, but all artists like to leave Iwatobi to reach better heights, it seems..." the nervous laughter made Haruka's ears itch.

It was a fraction of a second decision--but it had felt longer as the thoughts processed in his head. Out of the corner of his eye, at the end of the hallway, he spotted Makoto--dressed prim and proper in his gray slacks and button-up shirt--helping out an elderly teacher with some boxes, possibly stuffed with books. He imagined Makoto, ascertaining himself in this new environment, being someone adults and children alike could count on. He didn't quite understand why, but he wanted to witness this. Haruka wasn't so much afraid of change but more so of having the constant denominators in his life changing without him being there to see it happen. He wanted to be a part of it.

It caught all those around him by surprise when he spoke up, quiet but firm, as if realising this youngster was not a parent at all, "I'm a fine arts graduate", as if that in itself was enough to secure him the job; his expression was blank, but his eyes shone with something equal parts nervousness and enthusiasm. "I could take the job."

The process was troublesome, a little too tedious for his liking, but... but he enjoyed waking up early on weekdays again, to be waited on by Makoto at the bottom of the stairs, so that they could walk together to the school.

Even if he didn't understand why the hell he had to do lesson plans and more plans for the year, semester, and each week. Makoto would just laugh, sitting across from Haruka as they worked together on their own plans, before helping him sort things out. It aggravated him to realise that this was, already, change he had welcomed in his life.

~

But though change never quite sat well with him, he was getting better at accepting it. He just had to focus on what was the same. Makoto having to stay after hours really put a disruption in his schedule, but Haruka was currently more bothered by having to sit on a yellow chair meant for five year olds. It hurt his back, but he was going to show this _Gou_ that he was made of stronger stuff than her puffy, soft cheeks. --face cheeks. He wouldn't doubt that being closer to a baby than he was all that baby fat would give her an advantageous cushion he couldn't quite compete against, bony and square as he was.

This staring contest couldn't-- _shouldn't_ last long, but here he was.

"It's already three... Do you know where your brother is, Gou?"

"Hm hm!"

Haruka has a hard time figuring if that meant 'yes', 'no', or 'screw you teacher I'm having a match to the death here'. Thankfully Makoto seems to get it; that's just like him.

"Is there maybe a phone number we could call...?"

"Brother is swimming!"

 _Oh._ Haruka blinks, perking up at that. --Gou doesn't react, and maybe the staring death match had all been in his head. He's terrible with kids who aren't Ran and Ren. He turns to look at Makoto, then, just as the girl does the same. _Show no weakness_ , he seems to say with his eyes.

"Yes, but how long does swimming take..." the rest of Makoto's words are lost on him when the pesky little girl stands on her chair, leans against the table, reaches over, and grabs Haruka's hair. A pained sound escapes him, Makoto is immediately panicking, and the girl is giggling.

~

Eventually, after a stern talking from Makoto (he's getting better, channeling his big brother character into his teaching), Gou calms down (she tried crying and that nearly broke Makoto, but he held on; Haruka is very proud), pouting as she colours over some sketches Haruka is producing at an alarmingly fast speed. Makoto's busy cleaning about some more, though from the corner of his eye Haruka can tell that he keeps looking out the window (for a speeding red bike, perhaps?) and some times at the door when he's away from the windows. What is _Rin_ like? A big brother, who does swimming, who has ensnared the heart of his best friend?

Haruka tries to sketch out what he thinks the brother looks like, taking a little after Gou's appearance, but no reaction on the sketches he keeps passing on to the girl tells him that he is, definitely not, a psychic.

He sighs as the clock on the wall marks 4:00.

~

"Sorry I'm late," the embarrassed quality in the tone is not lost as it drags inside the classroom, and with it a vision Haruka is not too surprised about. He expected the red hair and for _Rin_ to be handsome to some extent (based on Makoto's words), but he isn't, altogether, too impressed. He kept his eyes trained on the newcomer, however; it's not like he could move. Gou had fallen asleep with her head on his lap, and Haruka didn't mind so long as he could keep sketching with his pad on his other thigh, keeping quiet conversation with Makoto sitting beside him on the floor.

But Makoto was no longer on the floor, having instead stood up and worked his way over to the door to greet _Rin_. "Don't worry about it! Emergencies happen."

Is swimming an emergency? _Don't give him outs, damnit, Makoto._ He was not altogether sold on this guy, yet.

Soon as the conversation starts to get a little longer and a little more tedious, Haruka switches off without meaning to, instead of listening, he glances between the two--his best friend and... _Rin_. It didn't escape him that Makoto kept smiling like he didn't want to smile; he was trying to hide how happy he was. The redhead was going along with it too, it seemed, glancing around and grinning whenever Makoto threw in a reassurance or another.

He was reminded of how Makoto had smiled when he first got this job, of when he passed all his exams, of when they both graduated high school, of when the twins were born.

And suddenly it felt like he was spying on something private.  
 __  
Rin Matsuoka.  
  
...he was going to become part of that change Haruka dreaded so much, wasn't he?

~

Haruka feels like glaring at the guy (he is glaring) when he follows them to the bus stop, twilight rolling in the sky already. He's carrying his little sister who sleeps against his chest. Makoto is forming polite conversation for two, and the other is responding quite well to it. This change was happening way too quickly.

"I'm sorry to hear you were stuck dealing with lawyers all day. Nothing serious, I hope?"

The redhead shrugs, and offers a sideglance to show that he doesn't want to talk much about it. "Everything's as serious as anyone wants it to be. I got the matter resolved, so that's enough," his eyes return easily to Makoto, and Haruka can't help but notice how they soften when they reach green. "I would imagine you had a harder time with Gou."

Makoto's nervous chuckle in itself is contagious. "A little! But any kid would react like she did, I think. Nothing that wasn't expected, to be honest." Reassured, a little more confident; these were things Haruka liked to see and hear when Makoto spoke with others. He still wasn't sure what to make of the redhead's jarred smile, but Makoto didn't seem to mind it. "Oh, your sister mentioned you might have been swimming. Do you swim?"

"Yeah, I'm a professional swimmer." 

The surprise spreads from Makoto to Haruka, though it's likely that Makoto's is more amazement than anything. 

"...wouldn't it be better to train in Tokyo, or Chiba? I've read that they have really good programmes over there--"

"Tottori is good enough for now," is the sharp interruption, but there's nothing mean about it. "I'm transferring at some point, obviously, but I have some responsibilities to uphold here for now." Makoto nods enthusiastically, and when it seems like he's got nothing else to say, Rin continues, his voice now a hint colder and annoyed, "Oi, what's with your friend? He's been glaring at me all this time."

Makoto had introduced them formally, but Haruka barely offered the redhead a word. As if annoyed that he was caught, he turns his head to the side and glares into the faraway street, willing his and Makoto's bus to arrive.

"--a-ah, sorry about that," the pause was for Makoto to look over at his friend, a little at a loss. "It's been a long day."

Haruka imagines an unattractive expression when he hears Rin scoffing, mumbling like an immature child, "well, whatever, I already apologised." Makoto shouldn't fall for someone so childish.

(He doesn't hear himself when he says, haughty and child-like, "What kind of apology was that? We waited for hours", in response, still looking away.)

The laughter that stumbles out of Makoto makes Haruka look back, surprised; he finds that he's not the only one looking back at Makoto, red eyes focused on the source of the sound, looking-- looking almost... Haruka wants to tack the word 'vulnerable' down, but he's not sure it's right. There's emotion there, and he feels frustrated that Makoto isn't seeing it, too busy laughing, happy and pleased for some reason that is beyond him.

He looks down at his shoes, at the scuff marks from using them too often, and... considers how Makoto deserves this kind of change.

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from tumblr: "Has there been a Kindergarten AU where Gou is a total pest in Teacher Tachibana's class but he doesn't mind the hot big brother that comes to pick her up yet because I need that." (my favoured ship revealed... oh no)


End file.
